The final moments of 2023 have arrived, and this may be one of the most special years for T1 players, fans of this team, and the League of Legends community in general. Looking back at the period from the beginning of 2023 until just before the match against JD Gaming, no one could dare say that T1 would be the new champions of the League of Legends scene at Worlds 2023. Especially after Faker discovered his injury and T1 had to promote Poby from the Challengers team to compete. It can be said that T1 has never taken their fans and the League of Legends community through so many emotional highs and lows.
Notably, this was the period when Faker was injured, and it may have been the time when T1 fans’ trust hit rock bottom. The expectations for Faker and his teammates at that time were perhaps just that they could secure a spot at Worlds. This became increasingly unrealistic. Fortunately for T1, they managed to rack up enough wins, while other competitors collapsed at crucial moments. Otherwise, no one could guarantee that T1 could secure a playoff spot, let alone compete for the LCK championship or Worlds 2023.
However, Faker himself recently revealed that he was truly surprised by the performance of the younger players. During his injury, Faker frequently showed up at LoL Park to cheer for his teammates. In a recent interview, Faker admitted: “At that time, I was thinking: ‘Do these kids always lose right after I leave? And they lost to DRX as well?’ That was really quite funny.” In fact, last Summer, DRX was one of the weakest teams in the tournament. And before facing T1, they hardly had any good results. After the group stage concluded, DRX only had 6 wins, two of which were against T1.
Faker said he was also shocked when the younger players lost right after he took a break and lost to DRX as well.
Clearly, after Faker’s injury and absence from competitions, fans have seen the significant impact he has on the young stars of T1. They may be more skilled than Faker is currently, but they definitely still need a leader to guide the team to victory.